Facts/Trivia:

∑Mallards
can fly extremely quickly, at speeds of up to 60 miles (97 km) per hour.

∑The
mallard was first bred in captivity by the ancient Egyptians.

∑Mallards
moult in late summer to early fall, rendering them flightless for approximately
30 days.

Description

Mallards are
known throughout their range for the beautiful plumage of the males. Males are
greyish-brown on their back and wings, but are distinctive with their bright, shiny green
head, yellow beak, orange legs and the striking patch of blue on the wings. They
also have a narrow white collar around their neck and two black, curly tail
feathers. The females are
slightly smaller and also have orange legs and a patch of blue, but the rest of
their colouring is more subdued, with specks of brown and beige, and a dark
beak. Both genders have a white tail and white underwings.

Habitat

Mallards breed in the Northern
Hemisphere, including North America, Europe, and Asia. Their wintering grounds
extend as far south as Mexico, North Africa and southeast Asia. They live in wetlands, by marshes, lakes, rivers or ponds, where they can find both aquatic
and land vegetation for food. In Canada, mallards are most numerous in the
prairies.

Feeding Habits

Mallards eat a variety of food, including both aquatic and ground
vegetation as well as worms and insects. They forage on land but also in the
water and, although they rarely dive beneath the surface, they often tip
forward so that their body is pointed straight down under the surface of the
water as they search out food with their beak. Mallards eat mosquito larvae, and are
therefore helpful in keeping the mosquito population in check.

Reproduction

Mallards pair up in fall and are typically monogamous. They usually build a nest on
high ground near a lake or
marsh. The
hen lays her eggs within the nest, which is lined with stems, leaves, feathers
and down. Approximately one month
later, the ducklings hatch, all within the same 24-hour period. The ducklings
are able to swim soon after hatching, and the hen leads them all towards the
water as soon as their soft little bodies are dry. They do not return to the
nest. They follow their mother on land and water and begin to fly in about
two months.

Behaviour

Mallards migrate
south in flocks when the weather begins to get cold, but return in March or
April. Usually only the females quackómales more often whistle or gruntóbut
when they do quack, it is softer than that of the females.

Conservation

Mallards are the most abundant wild ducks in the Northern
Hemisphere and there are no conservation concerns about them at this time.